Mayor William Bell announced that Birmingham was selected for a conference of Airbus suppliers. The conference represents Birmingham's first tangible accomplishment from the international air show. (Airbus image from Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce)

Birmingham will be the site of an airline aviation industry conference this fall, Mayor William Bell announced from the Paris Air Show today.

Bell told AL.com that the city was selected for a conference of Airbus suppliers. The conference represents Birmingham's first tangible accomplishment from attending the international air show.

Bell said the conference will bring hundreds of manufacturers and suppliers from around the world to Birmingham. The city will partner with the Birmingham Business Alliance to present the conference.

"We hope to create opportunities for Birmingham businesses and give the opportunity for the city to develop a closer relationship with Airbus," Bell said. "We want Birmingham on the global stage as a place for manufacturers and other support organizations to locate and thrive in our city. We are working hard to continue our momentum and propel the city into the coming years as the place to be."

Airbus already has Alabama connections, following its decision to build the A320 Family jetliner in Mobile, which will become company's first production site in America. Birmingham officials hope to capitalize on the company's need for suppliers accessible to Mobile.

Airbus held its first supplier conference in Wichita in 2012, with additional conferences held in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Nationally, Airbus spends $12 billion a year in 40 states for components and supplies.

Birmingham will provide conference space and marketing for the event. The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex is the likely location, officials said.

Councilman Johnathan Austin, who is also in Paris, said the conference is the result of relationships that were forged last year during the Farnborough Air Show and solidified this week in Paris.

"The city of Birmingham is committed to expanding our international footprint by growing businesses right here in our community," Austin said. "The only way to do that is to go directly to the source, where we can meet with the top officials, the CEOs, the chairmen, those decision makers who are all here in one place to make these types of decisions."

"This is exciting and shows a real opportunity here," he this afternoon. "If nothing else, we have learned that you have to go where the decision makers are and, as a united front, make the case for Birmingham."

Austin said the city's new focus on international industry requires investing the time and expense of attending key events to market Birmingham as a place to do business.

The city's primary goal at the conference is to market the 1.2 million-square foot former Kaiser Aerospace Facility on the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport property.

"Just today we're already walking away with the ability to connect suppliers and potential customers to Airbus, and we'll be doing that later this year in Birmingham, Alabama," Austin said. "This is just one example of why we need to continue our efforts to take the message of Birmingham to anyone who will listen around the globe."